iPad

iOS

Jailbreak

Cydia

Three years ago the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) successfully lobbied for the U.S. Copyright Office to add jailbreaking the iPhone to the list of Digital Millennium Copyright Act exemptions. Their efforts allowed the Jailbreak community (and ModMyi) to flourish and operate without fear of legal prosecution (for the most part).

Now the EFF is asking the U.S. Copyright Office to extend the same jailbreaking exemption to tablets and video game consoles.

“Technology has evolved over the last three years, and so it’s important to expand these exemptions to cover the real-world uses of smartphones, tablets, video game consoles, DVDs, and video downloads,” — EFF in a statement last week.

The EFF also called on Apple, Sony, Microsoft, and other device manufacturers to embrace the Jailbreaking Community instead of opposing it. The EFF highlights all the benefits members of the Jailbreak community are familiar with and have actively embraced for years. Innovation by virtue of freedom remains the Jailbreak community’s greatest strength, but manufacturers and security experts argue that freedom comes at a cost as well.

“If jailbreaking or rooting gains more popularity, it may lead to an increasing number of malware and attacks,” — Dennis Maslennikov Kaspersky Lab malware analyst.

Maslennikov and jailbreaking detractors lack an intimate knowledge of how the jailbreak community works. Apple may have an official App Review process, but the Jailbreak community, especially iOS owners, self-regulate as effectively as any review panel. Malware applications are few and far between, and any that gain notoriety are quickly identified and expunged from relevance.

Part of me wants Apple and others to embrace jailbreaking, not by opening up the App Store and deregulating what developers can do, but by making the jailbreak process easier. Devs and hackers dedicate a ton of time and effort into working around Apple's roadblocks, it'd be nice to have Apple throw a fastball across the plate every time instead of a knuckle, curve, and then a slider. But, that could handicap the allure of the jailbreak for some, and could make the community lazier and less appreciative.

Either way the EFF's efforts, if successful, will let jailbreak developers everywhere sleep a little easier knowing their efforts aren't breaking any copyright laws.

the vast majority of people who have iPhones & Android phones do NOT root or jailbreak their devices, only a small minority (minority in Reference to hundreds of millions of users)

If anything, Apple should allow people to use their devices the way THEY want to and stop being a dictator. Some Android phone manufacturers even sell their phones with the bootloader already unlocked !!

Apple has actually benefited greatly from the JB community, just think of all the features now available in iOS because of JB that wouldn't otherwise be there.

This fight seems so similar to the legalization of Cannabis per say. Everyone knows the benefits heavily out weigh the negatives as long as the user knows what they are doing. It's just like any desktop computer for that matter. I could repair a person's computer and install the best combination of anti-malware programs available on the market and it is still possible to get infected simply because the user goes far out of their way to click click click next and install. Blam Infected. Pay me again, this is clearly the way how Geek Squad and other PC repair companies RAIN all over people, I'm not hatin though I love getting paid $70/hour to scan a computer and give it back but it frustrates me in that fact that I am doing my best to inform ignorant people, in one ear out the other. Just like people driving! Stop making laws supporting idiots and morons and punishing the drivers that keep the flow of traffic moving!! vs Preventing them from ever getting behind the wheel? Harder driver's test anyone think? Maybe even have to retake the drivers test every 3years just to weave out the seniors and disabled people that are stubborn enough to not possibly save others lives or the economy because they are so slow. Anyone that opposes a jailbreak are no better than a slave to the rest of the government. Think for yourself! If I buy a house I'm going to own it. If I buy a phone I most definitely don't give a **** about Apple claiming it's their technology! It is in my possession now I can do what ever I want with it. Apple trying to own the world is great I would be trying to do the same thing but you better believe that the strong will always fall to the rest of the 99% eventually.

This fight seems so similar to the legalization of Cannabis per say. Everyone knows the benefits heavily out weigh the negatives as long as the user knows what they are doing. It's just like any desktop computer for that matter. I could repair a person's computer and install the best combination of anti-malware programs available on the market and it is still possible to get infected simply because the user goes far out of their way to click click click next and install. Blam Infected. Pay me again, this is clearly the way how Geek Squad and other PC repair companies RAIN all over people, I'm not hatin though I love getting paid $70/hour to scan a computer and give it back but it frustrates me in that fact that I am doing my best to inform ignorant people, in one ear out the other. Just like people driving! Stop making laws supporting idiots and morons and punishing the drivers that keep the flow of traffic moving!! vs Preventing them from ever getting behind the wheel? Harder driver's test anyone think? Maybe even have to retake the drivers test every 3years just to weave out the seniors and disabled people that are stubborn enough to not possibly save others lives or the economy because they are so slow. Anyone that opposes a jailbreak are no better than a slave to the rest of the government. Think for yourself! If I buy a house I'm going to own it. If I buy a phone I most definitely don't give a **** about Apple claiming it's their technology! It is in my possession now I can do what ever I want with it. Apple trying to own the world is great I would be trying to do the same thing but you better believe that the strong will always fall to the rest of the 99% eventually.

No matter what the argument is from Apple, its all about the money. There is no way they will ever 'embrace' it because of the innovation. They can already watch the innovation that jailbreak app developers come up with and steal it for their own whenever they want. They will never allow for a free and open jailbreak market because then they can't control the revenue that flows through the app store and get a piece of it. Now if you want an app on your phone, (unjailbroken of course) you have to go through the app store and Apple gets a taste. Don't get me wrong, I love my Apple products! Just saying...

The majority of people using these devices are too stupid for a jailbreak. I have seen ignorant people download the wrong package and screw the whole device up. I think actually finding and executing the jailbreak is a good test to see if you could handle it or not. I also believe that if jailbreaking is facilitated, the number of malware and threats will skyrocket compared to the "Jailed" environment these devices are in now. Jailbreaking is great if you know how to use it responsibly, but please keep it away from the hands of the inexperienced.

This fight seems so similar to the legalization of Cannabis per say. Everyone knows the benefits heavily out weigh the negatives as long as the user knows what they are doing. It's just like any desktop computer for that matter. I could repair a person's computer and install the best combination of anti-malware programs available on the market and it is still possible to get infected simply because the user goes far out of their way to click click click next and install. Blam Infected. Pay me again, this is clearly the way how Geek Squad and other PC repair companies RAIN all over people, I'm not hatin though I love getting paid $70/hour to scan a computer and give it back but it frustrates me in that fact that I am doing my best to inform ignorant people, in one ear out the other. Just like people driving! Stop making laws supporting idiots and morons and punishing the drivers that keep the flow of traffic moving!! vs Preventing them from ever getting behind the wheel? Harder driver's test anyone think? Maybe even have to retake the drivers test every 3years just to weave out the seniors and disabled people that are stubborn enough to not possibly save others lives or the economy because they are so slow. Anyone that opposes a jailbreak are no better than a slave to the rest of the government. Think for yourself! If I buy a house I'm going to own it. If I buy a phone I most definitely don't give a **** about Apple claiming it's their technology! It is in my possession now I can do what ever I want with it. Apple trying to own the world is great I would be trying to do the same thing but you better believe that the strong will always fall to the rest of the 99% eventually.

The fact that people essentially "lease" their phones for two years before before upgrading adds to the problem. Subsidized phones give the carriers and cell companies leverage to try and dictate what consumers can and can't do. The phone subsidy market may be about bottom lines and profits, but it also inadvertently gives the manufacturers and carriers a sense of control. We should outright own our phones and be able to do what we want no questions asked. But, until subsidies aren't the norm and people aren't used to carrying around $800 phones without the investment we wont get anywhere.

It would be nice if it was easier for devs to make untethered jailbreaks easier and more often. I think I can speak for everyone when the main reason they jailbreak is to customize their idevice according to their personality. I for one have been customizing a lot of my belongings, from my xbox 360, xbox controllers, MacBook, paintball guns, nintendo ds, psp, etc I could go on but you get the point I buy all my apps (but I won't lie, I do download pirated ones to test first because I think some apps are just overpriced) and like they said usually any malware that gets noticed is usually reported and people are warned to try and avoid them. Apple has benefitted from the jailbreak community and the least they can do is make it a little easier for those that want to jailbreak.

I hope it passes. I got banned from Xbox Live for just having a purple avatar (stupid). It will hopefully force them to undo my permanent account ban (for the purple avatar) and undo my console ban (for sneaking on my banned account). I'm for modding if it's for the good and if it makes things cooler and funner.